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@niiet tets dtttat @ffice IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE HAY-FORKS dige rlgetulenient tu in tigen @den tant mit mating tra uitge time.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, LESTER L. BOND, of the city of Chicago, in thccounty of Cook, and `State of Illinois,- 'have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Hay-Forks; and I do hereby declare'that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which v Figure l is a back view,

Figure 2 a front view,

Figure 3 a side view, and y Figure 4 a view of the -rod or barconnecting the sliding shaft with the lever, detached/A Like lettersrefer to similar parts in all of the figures. v

d The natureand object of my invention consist in constructing 'ahay-fork, of the class known as harpoonforks, so that when driven into abody of hay, two or more points can be turned out on opposite sides totake holdl of the hay; in the novel construction and arrangement of theprongs and operating-mechanism connected therewith, as hereinafter morefully explained, so that in unloading from a wagon or other place wherethere is a'ioor, the fork can be sent to the bottom and the prongs passunder the very lowest hay or straw; in doing this by a peculiararrangement and location of the joints; in a. new arrangement ofthelever, and in the several combinations hereinafter set forth andclaimed.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

' The entire fork is made of iron, steel, or other suitable metal ormaterial. I usually make it of wrought iron, with steel prongs, slightlytempered, though it may be entirely made of either material. The shaftA-is about three and one-half feet long, and the upper end provided witha ring or hole. It is about three-fourths of one inch in width andseven-sixteenths in thickness. The lower end is provided with an `openmortise for the insertion of the rods k k. The sliding bar B is abouttwo feet and eight inches in length, and of thesame width as the shaftA, and about iive-sixteenths of an inch in thickness, the proportionsbeing the same whether f the size of the shaft is increased ordiminished. Exact proportions'in this respect, however, are notmaterial.

At the lower end of the shaft, and near the upper. end of the bar B, arebands or sockets O, throughwhich the sliding bar works. Into the openmortise, at the lower end of the shaft, I insert the rods 7c lc, whichare pivoted atl- These rods are about four inches in length, and ofsuliicient size totgive the required strength. The length will dependsomewhat upon the other parts, as they must correspondl with the-widthof the head formed by the union of the prongs E E and the length of therod c. The length of t-he rod c will not, however, control the lengthof. these, ns 'that will operate at almost any length, if not desired toturn half around. It will also be evident that "the shaft A and thesliding bar B can he reversed, and the 'bar shown as the sliding barmade the shaft. In that case the operation of the lever D will bereversed, when it will be advisable to increase the length of the rod c,so that the lever will turn only one-fourth instead of half way around,as shown, and in FN that case the spring and catches may be dispensedwith. The rods k are pivoted to the outer angle of the prongs E nt m.The prongs E are about fivev inches in length from the highest to thelowest point, and about three and one-half from the lowest point to theangle at m. 'They are hinged together at n and to the sliding bar, andare ground sharp, or nearly so, fron1 the lowest point to the angles atm, and one may be made a little rf shorter and tted into the other, soas to prevent hay from getting between them. The pivots 'it and m are solarranged and located that a line from the two will be at an angle ofabout forty degrees with the outer line of the prongs E. A location atthis angle will give 1i leverage both for opening and closing theprongs, and avoid any deadpoints. The distance from. fn. to 'm is aboutone and one-fourth inch, and the width of the head formed by the prongsis about two and on,efourth inches at the widest point. The sliding barB is connected at the upper end to the leve'r D'by the flat rod c, whichis pivoted to it att' and to the lever at y'. The ilat rod orconnection-c is bent or made in form of a sector, in order to pass thejoint or pivot h of the lever. The lever D is made somewhat smaller thanthe shaft A, and is about sev'en inches in length. :its upper end isprovided with a ring or hole for a cord.. Between this and the shaftthere is a spring, a, provided with a catch or lock; or it` may bc madeof a. separate piece, provided with a spring, b, and the same lock orcatch f. rfhis lock or catch will fasten the prongs of the fork ineither an open or closed position. When open, it catches in a smallhole, g, in the end of the sliding bar, and when closed, in a similarhole in the block or projection of the shaft attached for that purpose.The lever D is pivoted to thc shaft at L and to the sector` atj. Theconnection at j'is made on the back side of the lever, (the front beingthe direction in which it turns,) so that when it is turned down to openthe prongs, it becomes the central pivot between 7L and t', and forms anangle with them, so that when the lock or catchf is withdrawn by asuitable cord, the weight of the hay will throw the lever back, which itwould not do with certainty if the three joints formed a line instead ofan angle, as described. i The joint or connection z' is made in themiddle of the sliding bar, as no advantage is gained by throwing it toone side to increase the angle. The spring-catch is withdrawn by a cordwhich is attached to it at'd, and passes through the lever at e.

In operation, the fork is inserted in hay or straw by pressing down theshaft A. Thispressure being divided upon the points m m, keeps thepoints ofthe prongs together; and the action ofthe hay or straw upon theincline of the prongs also assists -in keeping them together, so thatthey never separate when being thrust down. When the fork is down, thelever D is then turned downwards, and the force required to open theprongs also carries the fork slightly downwards, so that there isscarcely any movement of the compressed hay, and the fork opens veryeasily; and tho pressure to open being downwards, the fork is kept inplace while being opened; and the lever being turned down, the fork canbe drawn through a windowor over a beam without catching or beingdischarged of its load. It is operated by a horse in the usual manner,tho rope being attached to the ring of` the shaft.

Hay-forks with a single point or prong have heretofore been known andused. I do not, therefore, claim turning a fork-prong broadly; but

What I claim as new, and my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

The prongs E, pivoted to the bar B, and connected by links K to the barA, in combination with the lever D pivoted to the bar A, and connectedby link c to the bar B, when said parts are arranged for jointoperation,

substantially as herein described. ,V.,\,....c, LESTER L. BOND.

.,Witnesses:

W. C. DODGE, JAS. A. OowLEs.

